


A New Kind of Friendship

by Kazduit



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Comfort, Friends to Lovers, M/M, grieving tony, mentions of past Pepper/Tony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-16
Updated: 2014-10-03
Packaged: 2018-01-15 21:45:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1320289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kazduit/pseuds/Kazduit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two years ago Tony Stark lost Pepper and has since decided he no longer wants to be Iron Man. His best friend Clint Barton has been looking out for him and is now trying to get him back in the field. Now suddenly new and unexpected feelings have started to emerge between the two friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Visit From a Friend

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first chapter of my first Fanfic ever. It was originally posted on ff.net under the same name. I also have the same user name as I did there. I'm concerted it over here because I don't really use that account anymore.

He found Tony where he always was these days in his lab working. It had been two years since he last donned the Iron Man suit and since he had lost Pepper. Tony blames himself for losing her, for not being able to save her and he has since punished himself by not doing what he loves most in this world, which is being Iron Man. He claims that he is no longer capable of being a hero but Clint knows that that’s all he’s thought about doing in two years.

 

Tony didn’t look up when Clint walked into the room but he had gotten so used to it that he would have been surprised it was anyone else.

 

“Checking up on me?” Tony said without looking up from his computer. Clint had become a close friend in the years since he lost Pepper but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was only there because Cap wanted someone to keep eyes on him.

 

“Don’t you think it’s time Tony, to come back?” After two years it was getting harder to make up excuses for why Tony didn’t answer anyone’s calls and why he no longer seemed to care about anything or anyone.

 

“No.” Tony stopped working but didn’t look up. He knew if he looked up at Clint instead of getting angry he would get emotional and there was nothing Tony hated more than crying in front of people, especially Clint Barton. Who appeared to be the real metal man, never allowing any vulnerabilities or weaknesses to be seen.

 

“We need Iron Man Tony, the world needs Iron Man.” Others have said all this before Fury, the cap, Natasha but for some reason Clint thought Tony would listen if he said it. He should have known better Tony only listens to himself.

 

“It’s been two years and the world is just fine without that monster.” Tony truly believed he had become a monster it was the only explanation for why he had hesitated when Pepper was attacked, a fact he had never shared with anyone not even Clint. 

 

“I thought that was Banner’s line.” Bruce had taken over running R&D for most of Stark Industries to give Tony time to grieve and him a chance to do more research on himself and start to understand the Hulk like Tony had suggested but he probably didn’t realize that Tony would grieve for this long and often asked Clint about when Tony would go back to working on the Ark Reactor and fully resume his role as CEO. 

 

“I can’t save people anymore.” Tony turned around and looked straight at Clint, allowing his friend to see all his insecurities and fears. He didn’t know what he wanted to do but he did know that he wanted Clint to say something, anything to make him feel better.

 

“No, you won’t save people anymore, but I know the hero I knew is still in there” Looking into Tony’s eyes Clint felt sorry for him but he knew that Tony needed to hear this; he needed to move on with his life.

 

Tony was on the verge of tears; Clint had always believed in him and was always trying to help Tony get his life back. But with Pepper gone he could never get his old life back. Clint started walking closer to Tony until he could put his hands on his shoulders. “Listen to me Tony, you are a hero and Iron Man is a beacon of hope, the world still needs you.” Tony could feel heat roll of Clint and onto him where Clint touched his shoulders. Looking up into Clint’s eyes he started to feel something he hadn’t felt in a long time and immediately stood up and walked to his personal bar to pour himself a drink. He was really tired, that’s all it was. He was tired. He told himself over and over.

 

Clint didn’t know why but he felt a little embarrassed when Tony walked away from him. He felt defeated and kind of disappointed by his friend. “I’m going to be able to convince you of this am I?” He asked Tony already knowing the answer. Tony doesn’t listen to anyone but himself.

 

“No.” Tony didn’t know what to say. He knew he had upset Clint but he wasn’t very good at saying the right thing so he fell silent.

 

After several long moments of silence Clint finally gave up. He didn’t know how much longer he could keep doing this, Tony had made it very clear he never wanted to be Iron Man again or happy for that matter. “I should go, I’ll see you next week Tony.” Clint had turned and started for the elevator when he heard Tony’s voice.

 

“No!” What was he doing? Tony was sure of only one thing now he didn’t want Clint to leave. 

 

“It’s late, you shouldn’t be driving now. You can stay in one of the guest rooms upstairs.” Tony had an uneasy grin on his face. Both he and Clint knew he was more than capable of driving home even this late. But he was hoping Clint would understand that he didn’t want to be alone anymore.

 

“Fine, I’ll see you in the morning then.” With that Clint was gone, Tony watched carefully to see what floor the elevator stopped at and to his surprise he was glad to see that Clint had indeed gone up to Tony’s pent house on the top floor of Stark Tower.


	2. Breakfast with Tony

That night Tony was restless, he couldn’t stop thinking about how insistent Clint had been about him becoming Iron Man again. Clint had been the only one who never pushed him to rejoin The Avengers and now that he was asking him Tony really wanted to say yes. But he just couldn’t. He wasn’t ready for Iron Man and he certainly wasn’t ready for The Avengers.

 

Even though he was tired Clint was having a hard time sleeping, his mind was still racing from his earlier conversation with Tony. Tony had never asked Clint to stay before in fact he was often the one to suggest Clint leave. However he thought back to when Tony had once drunkenly confided in him that with Pepper gone he could barely stand the mornings. Tony and Pepper had always made a point of eating breakfast together every day as it was Tony’s favourite meal. Clint had gone over to Stark Tower early in the morning a few times to have breakfast with Tony and he had to admit Tony was so much like himself those days that Clint hoped they would spark something in Tony, to get him back to his old self. But they never did.

 

The next morning both men woke early but it was Clint who was up first. When Tony walked into his kitchen he found Clint still in his clothes from the day before getting frustrated as he tried to figure out Tony’s coffee machine that had no buttons. Tony took a moment to watch the archer try to fight the appliance. He snickered to himself and Clint turned around, face red to see his friend standing behind him. “Are you just going to stand there all day?” 

 

“Sorry. But it was funny.” Seeing Clint in his kitchen reminded Tony of those days when Clint would come over for breakfast and they would joke around, Tony almost forgetting what had happened.

 

“Well, I’m glad I can amuse you, now make me a damn cup of coffee.” Clint was still exhausted from only getting a few hours sleep and he desperately needed a caffeine pick me up. But he was happy to see Tony actually smiling.

 

“JARVIS make robin hood here some coffee.” Tony commanded his AI, still with a smile on his face but it had changed from one of amusement to one of arrogance. “Right away sir” the computer voice responded and the coffee machine turned on.

 

“I didn’t know JARVIS was a barista.” Clint said still staring at the coffee machine in amazement.

 

“It’s a new development; I figured it would be more efficient if I didn’t have to stop working just to make coffee.” Tony had decided this when he had gotten up to make coffee one day and the project he was working on had over heated and exploded in his absence, destroying half of his lab in the process.

 

“Right, of course” Leave it to Tony to cause an explosion by simply going on a coffee break, Clint thought. “Would you like sugar or cream in your coffee Mr. Barton?” Clint was startled by JARVIS and he still hadn’t gotten use to talking to the AI. “Uh, two sugars, one cream” Clint didn’t know if he should say please but decided not to as Tony never did. A few moments later a mug was produced from the side of the coffee machine. “Your coffee sir” Clint didn’t know what to say he just picked up his mug a little hesitant to take a sip.

 

“Thanks JARVIS” Tony said, signaling the AI that he was no longer needed right now. “So, breakfast, what do you want?” Tony asked making his way to the fridge and pulling out some eggs. 

 

“To talk” Clint had decided he could no longer go easy on Tony if he was ever going to convince him to get back into the field, he needed to push Tony harder. 

 

“Bacon and eggs it is then, you make the bacon.” Tony didn’t want to talk, he wanted to eat, make jokes and pretend like everything was the way it was before, pretend that nothing had changed.

 

“Tony” Clint wasn’t going to let Tony out of this; they still had a lot to talk about and he knew Tony was good at avoiding conversations.

 

“No excuses Robin Hood, I’m not making this entire meal by myself.” Just drop it Clint, Tony thought to himself, what did they have left to talk about anyway?

 

“We need to talk.” Clint knew Tony didn’t want to have this conversation but he giving him a choice this time.

 

“Why do you have to do that?” Tony realized that Clint’s mind was set but he wasn’t going to make it easy for him.

 

“Do what?” Clint was confused he didn’t realize he had done anything but let Tony go on living in his own delusional world where he didn’t have to deal with his problems.

 

“Ruin a perfectly good breakfast” after all breakfast was the most important meal of the day and Tony had been looking forward to his breakfast with Clint. He missed having the company.

 

“You didn’t ask me to stay here last night just so I would make the bacon.” Clint hadn’t given it a second thought at the time but he was starting to wonder exactly why Tony had asked him to sleep at Stark Tower. 

 

“That sounds exactly like something I would do” That definitely wasn’t something Tony wanted to go into as he didn’t know the answer. He just hadn’t wanted Clint to leave something that he had never felt before.

 

“Tony you have a private chef.” Clint said dryly. Tony was treating this like a game but Clint was done playing Tony’s games. 

 

“What do you want from me?” Tony was getting angry now and he had the feeling this was going to be a long morning.

 

“I want you to come back to the team.” Clint shouted he had never gotten this worked up when talking to Tony before. But now he couldn’t hold back his frustration.

 

“And I told you I’m never coming back!” Tony screamed as loud as he could and for the first time he wanted to hit Clint really hard.

 

A silence filled the room and Clint sat down at the black and sleek kitchen table. He didn’t know what to say next he had known Tony wasn’t eager to get back in the suit but the look in Tony’s eyes when he yelled at him told him everything he didn’t want to hear. It would take the end of the world to get Tony to suit up and even then he no longer had much hope. Tony walked over and sat at the opposite end of the table.

 

“What no witty comeback?” Clint looked so defeated he wanted to lighten up the mood in the room. But he thought to himself that would probably take a miracle.

 

“No.” Clint was slouching in his chair and staring at his hands, this hadn’t gone how he had planned it and now he didn’t know what to do.

 

“Nagging then?” That got a little smirk from Clint but it soon disappeared from his face. “Sorry to disappoint you but I believe you Tony.” Clint had admitted defeat and it made Tony feel awful. He had wanted Clint to back off but looking at how miserable Clint was Tony found himself again wishing he could give Clint what he wanted. “No, I’m sorry for disappointing you.” It was all he could manage and he hoped it would be enough.

 

“You don’t have to be sorry Tony. I just wish things were different.” Clint looked up at Tony now and saw regret in Tony’s eyes. He didn’t want Tony to regret his decision; he just wanted him to allow himself to be happy again. Clint got up and walked over to sit next to Tony. He placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder and a smile on his face. “How about that breakfast you promised me?”

 

Again Tony could feel heat rush over him from where Clint touched his shoulder. But this time his heart was also racing. Last night he had pushed away even the possibility of having feelings for Clint but now he was being hit with them in full force. It was exactly how he had felt whenever Pepper casually touched his arm or wrapped her arms around his neck. He tried to look up to avoid Clint’s eyes but his gaze got lost in Clint’s hair. He had never put his fingers in hair so short other than his own of course and now wondered what it would feel like. 

 

“Tony? Are you alright?” Tony was now avoiding Clint’s gaze and he was worried it was something he said.

 

Clint’s voice pulled Tony out of his thoughts and back to the conversation. “What?” Tony blinked a few times and looked back to Clint. “Breakfast, do you still want some?” Clint was a little worried but he figured Tony did have a lot to think about. They both did and he couldn’t blame the guy for getting lost in his thoughts.

 

“Absolutely, remember your doing the bacon no excuses.” Clint smiled and walked to the fridge to retrieve the bacon. As he started to make it Tony watched him, the move of his muscles under his shirt. Wait a second, Tony thought, this is Clint he is my friend, my best friend there is no way I could be having these feelings for him, right. I mean I shouldn’t, but then why am I.

 

“Hey, I’m not making the eggs for you. So unless you taught JARVIS how to make them you better get over here and start frying.” As Tony made his way to the cooking area of the kitchen he decided it was better to just forget it and go about business as usual. “Calm down Robin Hood, I’m coming.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading hope you're enjoying it.


	3. The Unexpected Dream

Traffic was bad as Clint sat in the back seat of a New York taxi contemplating what he was going to tell Director Fury. He knew what Fury wanted to hear and he knew what it was he had to tell him and well Fury never liked getting bad news so Clint was more than a little worried about how this was going to go. 

 

He had spent the morning and most of the afternoon at Stark Tower playing video games with Tony, who beat him every time. He thought it was ironic how out of the two of them he was the actual assassin and yet when they played an assassin video game he never saw the kill shot coming. But then again Tony probably spent hours every day playing those games. When they finished he went back to his apartment, showered and changed, before calling a cab to take him to the plane that was to take him to the helicarrier to report back to Fury.

 

He arrived on board the helicarrier at exactly six o’clock and new that only Fury and Rogers would be there. He went straight to the conference room where they usually met to discuss battle strategy and waited for Fury. Both Fury and Rogers came in and took seats across the table from Clint. He was starting to wish he had brought his bow just in case. “Tell me you have good news for me Agent Barton.” Clint had known Fury for years and never had he called him anything but Agent Barton. “That depends on how you look at it sir.” Disappointment was evident on Fury’s face. “Well get on with it we don’t have all day” “of course sir.” Clint thought back to earlier that day and at what he and Tony discussed and what Tony had decided. Fury was not going to understand what it was Tony wanted them to do.

 

“He’s not coming back sir.” Fury stood up and started pacing and it looked like he was about to burst with rage. “If it’s the timing we can give him more time.” Steve on the other hand looked concerned, whether it was for Tony or the team in general Clint didn’t know. “No Steve he’s never coming back, no matter how much time you give him.” “Well that’s just great what exactly does he expect us to do now” Fury was screaming, he had finally burst. “Actually sir, he did have a suggestion.” Fury turned to face Clint his one visible eye looked as if it was trying to escape his face. “He is offering us Iron Man.” “But I thought you said he is never coming back?” 

 

“He isn’t, but he suggests we find a replacement, a new person to operate the Iron Man suit.” “What?” Steve jumped up now too “we can’t just replace him and even if we did how would we choose someone?” Clint took a breath and stood to be eye level with the other two men “Tony came up with a list of criteria to look for and he has offered to teach whoever we choose how to use the suit properly.” 

 

It took two more hours of debating and multiple phone calls with the other Avengers to convince Steve and Fury to accept Tony’s proposal. Of course the hardest sell was that Tony wanted the final say on who he was to pass the suit on to but in the end they agreed that who better to know whether someone is capable of being Iron Man than the man who invented Iron Man.

 

Clint was happy with what they decided and called Tony to let him know that they went for it and to tell him to send his list of criteria to Fury immediately as the search for a replacement would start tomorrow. On the taxi ride home Clint tried to imagine what it would be like to fight alongside Iron Man with someone other than Tony inside the suit. Although he had thought it was a good compromise every scenario he thought off ended with some or all of them dying. Saving the world just wasn’t going to be the same without Tony. 

 

When he got back to his apartment Clint striped down to his boxers and fell asleep easily. It had been an eventful day and he desperately needed a good long sleep to clear his head, he would worry about what came next tomorrow. Once Clint drifted off a dream danced through his mind that seemed so real that when he woke he was drenched in sweat.

 

*******************

 

Clint opened his eyes to see he was in the middle of a fight with the other Avengers and they appeared to be losing. He grabbed his bow and started to shoot arrows at the oncoming attackers. He looked up to see Iron Man fly around the corner and shoot them from the air. For some reason even though he was being surrounded he couldn’t take his eyes off Iron Man. Then he heard Tony’s voice ring through his ear piece. “I know that I’m absolutely stunning to look at but you might want to focus on the fight Clint.” Realizing what Tony had said he turned to look at the hoard around him, he raised his bow but it was too late and he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down at his chest to see red pouring from his wound. “CLINT!” He saw a flash of shinning metal as Iron Man swooped down and started to beat back the hoard. Clint fell to the ground and the world around him started to spin and then everything went black.

 

Clint could hear noises around him but he couldn’t open his eyes. The noises came into focus and he realized it was the sound of a T.V. He opened his eyes and saw a blur of light and squinted at the brightness. He waited a few moments for things to clear up and when they did he saw Tony sitting on a chair beside the bed he was lying in watching some cop show. He tried to sit up but a sting filled his chest and he lied back down groaning at the sudden pain. Tony turned around and smiled at him then when he noticed Clint was in pain he leapt up and put his hands on his shoulders to prevent him from trying to get back up.

 

“Hey, take it easy you got shot in the chest, the doctors said you were lucky it missed your heart but that you will still be in a lot of pain.” Clint looked up at Tony and remembered all that had happened in the fight. “I was surrounded, you, you saved me.” “I will always have your back, Clint, when I saw you get shot I thought I had lost you but that can never happen Clint I need you, I-I –I love you.” Clint was so shocked at his friend’s confession that he didn’t know what to say but he didn’t have much to time to think about it either as Tony leaned down and met his lips in a kiss. 

 

Tony’s lips were rough against Clint’s but he didn’t mind because they were also gentle and caring. He felt Tony start to pull away at his lack of response and without even thinking he reached up and pulled Tony’s head to his and started to kiss him back. Clint could tell that Tony was no novice kisser as he expertly parted his lips and explored Clint’s mouth with his tongue. Clint didn’t know how to describe or process what was happening but it felt so good and it felt right, he didn’t want it to stop, he wanted to keep kissing Tony forever. 

 

***************

 

Clint’s eyes jerked open and he was drenched in his own sweat. He looked around and saw that he was back in his bedroom and it had all just been a dream, the fight, the hospital room and the kiss. “What the hell was that?”


	4. An Awkward Plane Ride

Clint sat at his small kitchen table watching his cereal go soggy and inedible. He thought he must be going crazy after all everything he did reminded him of Tony and thinking about Tony reminded him of the dream. At first he thought it was too vivid to be a dream but then he thought that it had to have been a dream because Tony would never be Iron Man again and then he franticly worried over why that was the only part of his dream that he didn’t think was possible. Was his subconscious really trying to tell him that he had feelings for Tony?

 

The sound of his phone ringing broke him out of his reverie, he picked up the receiver and noticed that it was Steve, undoubtedly calling to remind what time the meeting was and not to be late. “Late for one meeting and this is what I get Steve? You’re calling before every meeting.” Clint said as he answered the phone. “It was four meetings and that’s not why I called. I told Tony you would be flying in with him.” “Why?” After last night the idea of spending anytime alone with Tony made Clint feel more than a little uncomfortable. “It’s been a long time since he was on the helicarrier and I want you to talk to him to keep him under control in the meeting today.” Steve replied. Clint couldn’t keep himself from laughing “I doubt anyone can keep Tony under control, especially at really important meetings, but I’ll try. Besides I don’t think Fury needs anymore of a reason to kill Tony.” 

 

Clint took a taxi to the air strip, unable to focus long enough to drive. The flight was going to be at least half an hour and Clint was not looking forward to being alone with Tony for that long. Tony was already there flirting with some young flight attendant and all though she was quite attractive Clint would have sworn she was ugly for Tony’s tastes. Tony waved when he saw Clint get out of the taxi and he brushed the woman away as if he barely even noticed she had been there at all. Clint bent through the passenger seat window to pay the cabbie, taking more time then was necessary to get the money out of his wallet but eventually he had no more excuses to stall with and had to turn to look at Tony who was now standing right behind him.

 

“Hey” Tony said with a grin he couldn’t shake. He had to admit he was looking forward to seeing Clint. “We should board.” Was all Clint could get out as he walked past Tony and got on the private plane. He put his duffel in the seat next to him so that he could keep some distance between Tony and himself. Tony sat down without even noticing that Clint was avoiding eye contact by looking out the window. “I know Steve asked you to try and get me to ‘behave’ at the meeting but well let’s face it that will never happen so...” Clint didn’t even notice Tony trail off or him getting up and moving his bag so he could sit in the seat next to him. “Clint?...Are you listening?...Hello?” Clint hadn’t been listening; in fact he had no intention of acknowledging Tony at all. So he didn’t see it coming when Tony smacked his head into the window.

 

“What the hell Tony!” Clint’s anger diffusing as he felt Tony’s fingers start to curl in his hair. “You weren’t listening to me.” Tony replied in a quiet and small voice. “So you give me a concussion?” Tony moved his hand from Clint’s hair to his now red forehead. “Sorry, are you okay?” Clint jerked his head away from Tony at the gentle touch. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Tony didn’t know what to say so he just moved back to his seat and they continued the flight in silence, neither one saying anything but both wanting to.


	5. Chapter 5: A Gift From A Genius

Clint had planned on sitting as far away from Tony during the meeting as possible but of course Steve had cornered Clint into sitting right beside him. Probably hoping that he could keep Tony calm if he started to get out of control but that was the furthest thing from Clint's mind. Those in attendance to the first replace Tony meeting were Tony, Clint, Fury, Steve, Bruce, and Natasha. Fury stood at the round table and motioned for everyone to look down at their screens "we have only just begun the search but we have been able to find a few promising candidates, let's see first up is Scott Haddock, he is a decorated war veteran with special ops training in almost every field, shield recruited him a few years ago and well his results speak for themselves." "No." Everyone turned to look at Tony, they barely knew anything about this guy and already he was rejecting him. "Excuse me?" Clint could tell Fury had a short fuse today and Tony had just lit it. "This guy is a glorified gun for hire and no offense to the ex gun for hires in the room but he isn't going to have the IQ points needed to grasp a basic understanding of how the suit works." Fury was about to respond when Clint looked to Bruce to backup Tony, Fury wasn't going to have the patience to argue with both of them "Tony's right, it's not like driving a car the suit is complicated."

The meeting went on like that for another three hours and out of the dozens of applicants they looked at Tony only agreed on three. When they all got up to leave everyone was exhausted and Clint had completely forgotten about the dream. "Hey do you think shield will provide a lunch I'm starving." Tony whispered behind Clint. "There's always the mess hall." Clint suggested. "I meant an edible lunch." Tony refused to eat in the mess hall saying that he was traumatized from his high school's cafeteria. "Probably not" Clint smirked, for someone who would eat practically anything when he was hungry Tony was surprisingly picky. "Great, well then I should go check on the suit, run some diagnostics, wanna come?" Clint thought about it for a moment, Steve had asked everyone with nothing to do to come to the training room and go through battle drills, which usually meant being thrown around the room by Captain America for an hour. "Sure, beats running drills with Steve." The two left the room and went to one of the lower levels of the helicarrier where Tony had left the suit when they had first arrived on the helicarrier.

"You know I don't think I've ever been down here" Clint and Tony had passed several locked doors that Tony had opened via ocular scanner. "These are the helicarrier's new science labs. I designed them myself." Clint noticed Tony had that smug look on his face he always got when he talked about his work. "Yeah and he never lets me forget it" Bruce stepped out from behind a microscope wearing his lab coat. "Banner show Clint around, there's something I need to check." Tony walked through another door that closed behind him preventing Clint from following. "So what kind of research do you guys do here?" Clint followed Bruce to the station he had been working at. "Nothing nearly as cool as Stark Industries but Fury hates it when Tony takes Shield property home with him so Tony brought a little bit of home here." Bruce smiled clearly happy to have another playground. "That sounds like Tony" Clint was looking around at some of Bruce's work when he noticed something buried under a few pieces of paper.

"Is this what I think it is?" Bruce shocked, grabbed the paper out of Clint's hand. "It's nothing, just some old specs of Tony's." Bruce was a bad liar and Clint was trained in interrogation techniques so he knew it was only a matter of time before he figured it out, Bruce just hoped Tony would get back first. "But it's an arrow right?" Bruce turned away trying to avoid eye contact. "Well..." Clint cut off whatever explanation he was going to give him "Bruce I know an arrow when I see it." Bruce sighed, he didn't care enough to keep Tony's secret much longer, so he gave in. "Yes it is." Hoping Clint would stop there he went back to his work. "But I've never seen any arrow like that before, what was it?" Bruce knew he would regret this but he turned to Clint anyway "Tony based the designs off of his reactor research." Bruce gave a defeated sigh when he heard a familiar voice boom through the room. "You told him! The surprise is ruined!" Tony through his arms up and walked over to the others. "He found the specs on my desk, I told you not to leave your stuff there." Clint was extremely confused and looked to Tony for clarification. "What are you talking about? What surprise?" Tony shot Bruce one final dirty look and turned around. "Just follow me, I'll explain."

Tony lead Clint through a series of security doors and into a state of the art lab that mirrored his lab at Stark Tower. "Are you going to tell me what this surprise is or are you going to keep being cryptic?" Tony pulled out a case and opened it. Inside were three arrows each with a tip that glowed the same blue as Tony's reactor. "These were the surprise." Clint picked one up to examine it. When he touched the end it emitted a small shock. "Ouch" Clint put his finger to his mouth. "Surprise!" Clint smiled, and Tony smirked. He enjoyed being able to make Clint smile. Most people just got annoyed by him.

"What is it?" Clint turned back to look at the arrow. "It's a pointy thing." Clint let out a quiet snicker. "You know what I mean" Clint was curious as to the sudden gift but was more curious to see it in action. "Well I was just thinking that without me to swoop in and save you, you could use a little something to help you out in the field." Clint turned to Tony pointing an accusatory finger at him. "I don't need any help in the field!" Clint put the arrow down and had started to walk away. "Are sure about that? When we fought Vector you could barely stand up after he knocked you down let alone land an arrow." Before Tony could think Clint pulled out his bow and had an arrow aimed right at him. "Where did you hide that?"

"I never go anywhere without my bow, something you would do well to remember." Tony smiled then faked fear "Ooh I'm terrified." Clint fired, missing Tony by a hair, but close enough for Tony to yell and duck. "What the hell are you two doing Barton?" Clint turned to look at fury just as Tony was standing up and ended up clipping his nose with the end of his bow. Fury sighed and rolled his eyes tired of the avengers acting like children. "Just be back tomorrow at the same time, both of you." Fury left the lab and Clint turned to Tony who was now holding his nose blood dripping between his fingers.

"Tony I'm so sorry." Tony tipped his head back and sat down. "Don't worry about it, it's just a bloody nose, it's not broken or anything." Clint looked around and spotted a sink. He grabbed a cloth and wet it. "Here let me see" Clint put the cloth to Tony's nose and tried his best to clot the blood. When Tony's nose stopped bleeding Clint used the cloth to clean Tony's face and smiled when his work was down. "Clint Barton, nurse. Who knew?" Clint smiled and looked into Tony's eyes. All at once his dream came rushing to the forefront of his memory and before he even knew what he was doing he started to lean towards Tony. He thought Tony was going to push him away, yell and storm out. But instead he leaned closer until their faces were only an inch apart. "Thank you, for the arrows." Tony smiled and filled the distance between them until they were kissing. The kiss was gentle and slow, neither wanted to rush this. Clint suddenly feeling like he was going to lose control of the situation deepened the kiss and started to explore Tony's mouth with his tongue. Clint felt a burning in his lungs and pulled away to breath. Tony wined at the loss of contact but smiled again. His fingers had woven themselves into Clint's hair and he had to admit Clint had very soft hair.


	6. Chapter 6: Cupcakes For Breakfast

Tony didn't know how long they had been kissing for but he hadn't felt this giddy to just make out since high school. The two broke apart at the sound of someone clearing their throat. Tony turned to see Bruce standing by the door and made a mental note to get his revenge. "What do you want Banner? We're a little busy here!" Tony looked over to Clint who was just staring at him, with a look in his eyes that Tony never thought he'd see again. "Yeah I noticed but I came to get Clint, we have that big avengers meeting." That jerked Clint out of his gazing at Tony. "Crap! I forgot. Thanks Bruce, tell Steve I'll just be a minute." Bruce turned to leave and on his way out he called "Okay but don't be late."

 

Clint grabbed his bow and tucked it under his jacket. "What meeting?" Tony clearly wasn't invited and that made him all the more curious. "Steve wants to go over strategy and develop new protocols." Tony nodded. He had usually blown off those meetings back when he was on the team. "Well then maybe you could come over later." Tony said wrapping his arms around Clint's waist. "Let's take this slow Tony. I don't want to rush any of it. We should do it right. Besides the meeting will probably go late anyway." Tony wined and Clint leaned in to give him a quick kiss. "Why don't you come over to my apartment tomorrow for breakfast and then we can ride into the helicarrier together." Tony smiled instantly at the mention of his favourite meal and nodded furiously. Clint laughed and turned to go. "Okay I'll see you tomorrow."

 

When Clint got back to the conference room everyone was there but Steve. Relived Clint took a seat. Maybe he wasn't late. "Thank you for finally joining us Barton." No, he was definitely late. "Sorry I'm late Tony was showing me some new arrows he designed." Steve sat down beside Natasha "Yes Bruce told me." Clint nodded his appreciation to Bruce for covering for him. "Now we have a lot to get through. Bruce you said there were weird weather patterns appearing over Egypt?" Clint looked to the screen as Bruce talked about clouds and rising air pressure not really knowing what any of the graphs or data meant. By the end of the meeting the team had decided to keep the old protocols in place and that nothing required their immediate attention but they would have Shield keep their eye on a few things. Clint was exhausted and started to wish he had taken Tony up on his offer. By the time he got home you could officially call it morning and he was only able to get a few hours of sleep in before Tony was knocking on his door.

 

"I brought bagels! And this was outside your door." Clint looked to see a familiar tubberware container filled with cupcakes. "You can put them on the counter." Tony did as he was told, then opened the container and tasted the icing with his finger. "One question, why cupcakes? Does Clint have a secret admirer?" Clint closed the door and sat at his small kitchen table. "That was two questions and they are from the old lady down the hall. She says I remind her of her son." Tony had now finished his cupcake and started on another. "Follow up question. Why purple icing?" Clint didn't want to tell Tony after all Tony could make jokes about the end of the world. He would certainly make fun of this. "It's my favourite colour." Tony burst out in laughter not even trying to hold it back. "Stop laughing!" Tony calmed down and took a few deep breaths "sorry but I just never thought Clint Barton badass assassin's favourite colour would be purple."

 

Clint got up to get some coffee "well it is and it's not funny." Clint's path was quickly blocked by Tony stuffing the last of his second cupcake into his mouth. "Yes it is." Tony said with a grin on his face reaching for a third cupcake. "Tony!" Clint reached around Tony and poured two cups of coffee. "Fine, I'm sorry, mine's green by the way." Clint handed Tony his coffee and picked up the bag of bagels Tony brought. "What?" Tony took a sip of his coffee and wrapped his arms around Clint, resting his head on Clint's shoulder's "My favourite colour, its green." Tony reached for another cupcake and Clint slapped his hand away. "I'm cutting you off." Tony let out a disappointed groan. Clint turned around placing a kiss on Tony's lips to stifle the groan, he taste the sugary icing on Tony's lips. When Clint pulled away he pushed the bag of bagels into Tony's chest. "Bagels are for breakfast not cupcakes." Tony grinned and took a huge bite out of one of the bagels. "Happy?" Clint smiled and went back to his seat at the table. "Very."

 

Twenty minutes later Clint and Tony had finished their bagels and coffee and Tony was talking about some new invention of his. Tony got so happy talking about his work and Clint would have gladly let him keep talking but they were interrupted by a loud ringing. Clint got up to answer his phone. The number was blocked but he had a pretty good idea who it was, after all only the other avengers had this number. "Hello Steve." Clint said into the phone. "How did you know it was me?" Clint rolled his eyes. Steve was the only person who ever called him at home the others would just text, something Steve still hadn't figured out. "Who else would ruin my morning with a phone call?" Showing up late to Steve's meeting yesterday had pretty much insured Clint would be receiving more of Steve's little reminders. "I just called to remind you not be late for the meeting and to show Tony the files." Clint smirked, typical Steve didn't think that Clint would remember and honestly he did almost forget, not that he would admit that to Steve. "I'll see you at the meeting Steve. Goodbye." Clint didn't wait for Steve's response and just hung up the phone.

 

"What did he want?" Tony asked not at all happy Steve's call interrupted his showing off. "To remind me not be late for the meeting." Tony snorted "again?" Clint nodded "how often are you late?" Clint walked over to his couch, the place where he had tossed his jacket and Fury's file when he got home last night. "More often than Steve would like." Clint pushed his jacket aside and grabbed the file, then headed back to where Tony was still sitting. "He's right though we should leave soon, I'm going to have a shower and then we can go." Tony shot up with a smirk on his face that Clint could only describe as being 'very Tony'. "I can join you if you want." Clint leaned into Tony's ear "I said slow Stark." He pulled back to see a pout had replaced the smirk and smiled. "Besides Fury wants you to go over the rest of the candidates and pick anyone who you deem worthy. So he doesn't have to waste three hours debating with you today." Clint handed Tony the large red folder. Tony looked at the folder then back at Clint. "I don't like being handed things." Tony smirked again but this time in defiance. "How do you feel about picking things up?" Clint asked. "What...?" Before Tony could get out his question Clint answered by dropping the file on the floor by Tony's feet. "I'll only be a few minutes." Clint turned and headed to his bathroom to take a shower, leaving Tony standing there staring at the spot he had stood in.


End file.
